Theresa May slaps down David Davis over timing of MPs’ Brexit vote

Theresa May told MPs that parliament would get to vote on the U.K.’s Brexit deal before the country formally leaves the EU, just hours after her Brexit secretary suggested such a vote may need to happen after Britain’s exit.

Asked during an appearance at the House of Commons exiting the European Union committee Wednesday whether a promised parliamentary vote on the U.K.’s withdrawal agreement could come after March 2019 — the date the U.K. intends to leave — David Davis said: “It could be.”

He said the withdrawal agreement on issues such as citizens’ rights, the Northern Irish border and the U.K.’s financial obligations to the bloc may not be agreed until the future relationship agreement is settled, which he said could be as late as March 2019.

The timetable appears to contradict the EU’s insistence that a period of around six months will be required after a Brexit deal is reached, for parliaments around the EU to ratify the deal.

It also goes against the government’s previous insistence that it will bring forward a motion on the final agreement with the EU “to be voted on by both Houses of Parliament before it is concluded.”

But speaking at Prime Minister’s Questions shortly afterwards, Theresa May contradicted the Brexit secretary’s statement, insisting that the government wanted a deal in time for a vote in parliament before the U.K.’s exit date.

“We are in negotiations with the EU but I am confident,” she said in response to a question from Labour MP Stephen Kinnock that mentioned Davis’s earlier comments. “The timetable under the Lisbon Treaty does give time until March 2019 for the negotiations to take place.”

“But I am confident because it is in the interests of both sides — and it is not just this parliament that wants to have a vote on that deal but actually there will be ratification by other parliaments — that we will be able to achieve agreement in that negotiation in time for this parliament to have the vote that we committed to.”

Davis also suggested that a transition deal may not be finalized by the end of 2017, insisting that it “should,” however “be pretty plain what we are trying to deliver” by the first quarter of 2018.

Labour MP Seema Malhotra, to whom Davis made the claim about delaying a parliamentary vote at the committee session, later issued a statement accusing the government of treating parliament “with contempt.”

“Time and time again they are desperate to avoid scrutiny. We were promised a ‘meaningful’ vote on the deal, it beggars belief that it may well come after we leave the European Union,” she said.

Asked to clarify the government’s position, the prime minister’s spokesman told reporters Wednesday afternoon: “[The prime minister] has been clear the government will negotiate the agreement before we leave in March 2019, put it to a vote in both houses of parliament once it is agreed. The secretary of state [David Davis] was asked a lot of hypothetical questions today, but to be clear on this, a final deal will be agreed before we leave and MPs will get a vote on it.”

The Brexit department also issued a statement on Wednesday afternoon clarifying its position.

“We are working to reach an agreement on the final deal in good time before we leave the EU in March 2019. Once the deal is agreed we will meet our long-standing commitment to a vote in both Houses and we expect and intend this to be before the vote in the European Parliament and therefore before we leave,” the statement said.

“This morning the secretary of state was asked about hypothetical scenarios. Michel Barnier has said he hopes to get the deal agreed by October 2018 and that is our aim as well.”

This story has been updated to include the statement from the Brexit department.